


when the nights get long

by likethatfullsun (minhoneyboysuga)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, China Line cousins, Drunk Making Out, Jackson Wang Party tm, JaeHyuck brothers, JohnMark brothers, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Recreational Drug Use, RenWin brothers, also johnjae have a cat named kimchi, also lotsa couples at that party, big time projecting on my part, dream play dnd at the mall every saturday, jaehyuck are adoptive brothers, jaehyun is a college drop out, johnjae roommates, kind of, kun isnt mentioned but chenkun brothers, mark is only mentioned im so sorry markly, past markhyuck - Freeform, sorry Jaehyun, ten uses they/them, where there are too many cameos to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-11-01 11:02:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20814044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minhoneyboysuga/pseuds/likethatfullsun
Summary: “What am I even supposed to do for the next, what, three hours?”“Renjun’s brother is here so you could bother him.”“Okay but I don’t know Renjun’s brother.”“Yeah but you’re my brother and Renjun’s one of my best friends, so there’s your excuse.” Donghyuck said as he pointed out a table where someone was slumped over what looked like several textbooks. “His name is Sicheng, he’s your age, go make friends.”





	when the nights get long

**Author's Note:**

> this fic was almost not possible due to the sheer amount of life stress i suddenly went through BUT WE MADE IT Y'ALL
> 
> the very very biggest of thank you's to vic for continuously listening to me cry about this story especially when i wasn't able to actually write it down in fic form and to my friends who all read this before it was published and reassured me it wasn't garbage
> 
> the song jaehyun sings is when the nights get long by jukebox the ghost and honestly i just used that song bc that's one of my favorite bands and their s/t album is my favorite thing in the world so i picked like one of the only not break up oriented songs lol
> 
> some side notes that i didn't have room for in the fic:  
>jaehyuck's mom adopted them two years apart by herself, we love a strong independent woman. she met her partner when Jaehyun was about to turn 18 so he has slightly less of a relationship with her bc he moved out right after turning 18  
>jaehyung (jae day6) and jaehyun (yoonoh nct) are college drop out buddies. they met through the jackson wang party system and always cheered each other on in their non-college student lives
> 
> so... many things in this fic are me projecting (college dropout, jaehyun having the worst fucking memory on earth when it comes to human beings, jaehyun rambling and not knowing when to stop talking, jaehyun working at subway and walgreens, THE WALGREENS STORY JAEHYUN SHARES IS REAL BTW THAT HAPPENED DURING ONE OF MY SHIFTS JUST KNOW THIS) so just know a lot of these things are actually pretty realistic.,.,.
> 
> ALSO KIMCHI IS BASED OFF MY CAT LINA shes just a lil grandma cat and shes so pure and sweet
> 
> also the mall is vaguely based off the mall i grew up going to, just because i know how that one is set up
> 
> the cameos are all idols i love and also i needed them to have people to interact with at the party so here we are, cameos central lol
> 
> okay i will end this stupidly long a/n here, thank u for reading, kudos and comments always appreciated <3

“Where exactly is this store?” Jaehyun asked. He slowed to a stop in the parking lot of a mall he’d been to a million times before, his younger brother Donghyuck in the passenger seat. “I don’t remember a board game store being here.”

Donghyuck rolled his eyes before unbuckling his seatbelt and opening his door, moving to get out as he spoke.

“That’s because you’re old and don’t come to the mall for fun anymore,” Donghyuck said blandly and Jaehyun pouted as he closed his door and pressed the lock button on his key.

“Hey, go easy on me, Hyuckie. It’s hard having a social life when you have almost solely college friends and you’re a dropout with two jobs,” Jaehyun defended.

Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “Whatever, it’s next to the puppy store, it opened up a few months ago. Let’s go, loser.”

“You know, you should really be nicer to your older brother who is so kindly taking time out of his day off to drive you to and from the mall so you can nerd-out with your friends.”

Donghyuck smiled wide, eyes squeezing shut as he wrapped his arms tightly around Jaehyun’s left bicep.

“I love youuu, thank you for driving me to D&D tonight!”

Jaehyun smiled fondly as he ruffled the younger’s hair. “Yeah whatever, kiddo, don’t expect it again anytime soon.”

“Uh-huh, mom will be able to take me next weekend anyways so it doesn’t matter.”

The two boys walked into the air conditioned mall, the sunlight from the glass ceiling reflecting off the tile floor and giving the whole place a warm feeling despite the cold from the air conditioning. It was fairly busy for a Saturday afternoon, families and teenagers milling about, walking from store to store as they filled their time. They got onto the escalator to the second floor and Donghyuck turned around in his spot ahead of Jaehyun.

“Do you remember Jaemin?”

“The guy you hate from school?”

“The one and only,” Donghyuck said with a flourish of his hand as he stepped off the escalator. “Well, not the only but you know.” He shrugged. “Apparently he got into a fight with puberty over the summer and won and now he’s really hot and I don’t know what to do about it.”

Jaehyun lifted an eyebrow. “Make a move? Ask him out? Buy him a gift?”

“A gift for being hot?”

“I mean, it’d be flattering at the very least, plus I used to get those in high school.”

“People _ gave you shit _ just for looking mediocre?” Donghyuck asked incredulously.

“First of all, ouch. Second, I’ll have you know almost every person in high school wanted to date me.”

“I assume they all came to their senses once you graduated and they were no longer around you every day.”

“What did I do to deserve this treatment? At least I’m not the one losing my mind over the guy I hated because he suddenly got hot.”

“Who suddenly got hot?” A new, slightly deeper voice came from behind them right as they were about to enter the aforementioned store. From the way Donghyuck froze up and his eyes widened, Jaehyun had a pretty good guess as to who this voice belonged to.

“No one, dipshit, it’s none of your business,” Donghyuck said when they turned around and Jaehyun caught the glimpse of a smirk on the other boys face before it melted into a scowl.

“How are you still this childish? It’s been a whole summer, I guess only some of us grew as people. Quite literally,” Jaemin finished with a glance at the top of Donghyuck’s head.

“Fuck off, Jaemin, you’re not better than me just because you grew a few inches over the course of a few months, that’s how growth spurts work.”

“Oh really? So when was your last one? Middle school?”

Donghyuck looked like he was about to burst, his cheeks getting slightly red as the blood rushed to his face in anger.

“Okay, as fun as it is to watch my brother and his… enemy??” Jaehyun said questioningly, unsure of what to even call the two. Jaemin made a face Jaehyun couldn’t quite read in response with a slight shrug. “Uhh, flirt, I think you have party members waiting on you two.” He pointed to the table inside the store where a small group sat, the older recognizing only a couple of faces.

“We weren’t flirting!” Donghyuck said, exasperated and embarrassed.

“What am I even supposed to do for the next, what, three hours?” Jaehyun asked, ignoring his younger brother’s complaints, noticing Jaemin stayed oddly silent after Donghyuck’s exclamation.

“Renjun’s brother is here so you could bother him,” Donghyuck suggested with a glint in his eye that Jaehyun elected to ignore.

“Okay but I don’t know Renjun’s brother.”

“Yeah but you’re my brother and Renjun’s one of my best friends, so there’s your excuse.” Donghyuck said as he pointed out a table where someone was slumped over what looked like several textbooks. “His name is Sicheng, he’s your age, go make friends.”

Jaehyun rolled his eyes as the pair walked over to the table, continuing to take jabs at each other the entire time, Donghyuck’s blush never cooling off.

Left by himself, Jaehyun looked around at the rest of the store finally, seeing board games and Dungeons and Dragons books and accessories filling the shelves along the walls and in the front of the store. There were several tables in the back of the store, half of them filled with small groups playing a variety of games from Risk to D&D (there was a group of girls in the middle of what appeared to be their own campaign) to simple card games.

Jaehyun turned to look at the table his brother had singled out and made eye contact with a familiar face but he couldn’t quite place where he knew the other from.

“Hey, you’re Jaehyun, right?” Sicheng asked, cheeks flushing slightly. “You can have a seat, Hyuck told me you have no friends so you wouldn’t have anyone to hang out with.”

“That kid-” Jaehyun started exasperatedly. “He and his friends like to pick on me a lot, I promise I’m not as big of a loser as they probably made me seem.” He pulled out the seat across from Sicheng and sat down. It felt surprisingly easy to talk to the other, Jaehyun only feeling slightly on edge from the fact Sicheng was upsettingly pretty but he didn’t have time to linger on either of those points.

“They pick on everyone, don’t feel too special. I’m usually the recipient of their teasing.”

“Do you bring Renjun to this every week?” Jaehyun asked.

“Yep,” Sicheng said with a stressed smile. “They just celebrated the first anniversary of their campaign a few weeks ago.”

“Has Jaemin been in the group the entire year?”

“He was visiting family for the entire summer break so technically yes but he was gone for a little while.”

Jaehyun looked over and saw Donghyuck talking to Jeno while Jaemin looked at him fondly.

“Did you have any plans for tonight?” Jaehyun asked suddenly. “I was just gonna wander the mall but it’d be much more fun with someone else.”

“Oh, sure! I’m a little brain dead today anyways, studying was gonna be difficult.”

Jaehyun smiled wide at the other, unabashedly, and Sicheng’s cheeks pinked slightly. The two stood up, Sicheng packing up his things into his backpack and carrying it with them over to the table the high schoolers were set up.

Donghyuck looked up to make eye contact with his older brother, panic seeping into his expression as Jaehyun smirked and flicked his gaze over to Jaemin before looking back at his little brother.

“Hyuckie, we’re gonna be wandering so if you need anything just text me,” Jaehyun said once they were close enough and Donghyuck flushed at the use of the nickname.

“Shutupohmygod,” he rushed out.

“_ Hyuckie. _” Jaemin snickered and Donghyuck shoved him away with his blush bleeding onto his ears and down his neck.

“Please go away, you’re embarrassing me,” Donghyuck said before shuffling his character sheets around to have something to do that wasn’t paying attention to Jaehyun. The older laughed in response and waved over his shoulder.

“Where to first?” Sicheng asked as they walked out of the game store.

“Wanna go sadly look at all of the puppies and talk about how they deserve better than this life of being secluded in tiny glass cages?” Jaehyun suggested, pointing to the pet store right next door.

“... Do you do this often?”

Jaehyun smiled wide. “This was my favorite hangout spot when I was in high school, my roommate and I used to do this all the time after school. Now work and college gets in the way, we have basically opposite schedules.”

“Do you go to different colleges?” Sicheng asked unknowingly as they walked inside and Jaehyun made a face.

They passed by some large glass tanks with rabbits and guinea pigs in them on the right-hand side of the store and a fairly big bird enclosure to their left. The back of the store was lined with three layers of kennels, made of wood and glass with paper shreds for the bedding. There were puppies of all sizes and breeds contained in the small spaces and Jaehyun’s heart ached for them.

In the center of the kennel area of the store was a small, octagonal enclosure where the store would let up to two puppies at a time play and get some energy out and, by the looks of the amount of people crowding the two-and-a-half foot tall wall, there was at least one out at the moment.

“No, I dropped out of college a week into my freshman year,” he finally responded after a few seconds, hoping Sicheng wouldn’t ask any other questions and to his luck, the other seemed to nod in understanding.

“Sometimes that’s how it goes,” Sicheng said and Jaehyun smiled gently. Every person he told he was a dropout would immediately jump into some sort of speech about how “it’s never too late” and “there’s no such thing as a dropout, it’s just pressing the pause button” (which was just something college graduates told dropouts to try and make them feel better).

“Yeah, I had a full-time job at a call center and had just moved out and it was too much for me to handle and, well, I had bills to pay so it wasn’t a very difficult decision to make,” he rambled, retroactively aware that this is exactly what he had been thankful Sicheng hadn’t asked about. “Y’know, school or work.” He finished awkwardly, his hands flailing slightly in front of his chest.

Sicheng nodded in understanding. “I have a couple friends that were in the same boat as you,” he said as they made their way to the puppy play area and avoided the small children running around unattended.

“That’s nice to hear, I get a lot of shit for being 22 and still not going back.”

Sicheng raised an eyebrow. “Are you even planning on going back? Like is that something you want to do?”

“Yes? Well. Not really but like it feels almost like a requirement to have a good job.”

“Not really, my friends I mentioned, not all of them went back to school and they’re doing pretty good without the degree. Yeah it’s maybe harder in some aspects but overall if you have the skills most places will at least consider you,” Sicheng said smoothly and Jaehyun felt that pang of familiarity once more but pushed it to the side, instead paying attention to the actual words that were being said. 

“Thanks, most people just try and convince me I’ll go back someday so it’s cool you aren’t like that.”

Sicheng smiled in response. “Where do you work right now?”

“I’m part-time at Subway and Walgreens and they both suck,” Jaehyun answered with a smile. Sicheng looked like he was trying not to laugh but failing miserably.

“Old people retail and fast food, the two worst lines of work to be in.”

“Hey, it could be worse, I could work at McDonalds.”

“You might need a new standard of low there, buddy.”

The two continued to banter back and forth as they walked around the store for a few more minutes before going to find a different one. After a little over an hour and a half, Sicheng’s stomach growled loudly while they were walking out of the fourth store they had been into.

“Hungry?” Jaehyun asked with a laugh and Sicheng flushed in embarrassment.

“Yeah, a little. I haven’t had anything since breakfast this morning.”

“Wanna go to the food court and get something? On me,” Jaehyun said with a warm smile and Sicheng attempted to protest.

“I can’t make you pay for my food, I have my own money. It’s really okay.”

“I mean I’m not gonna force you but I’m the one that dragged you around the mall because I was gonna be lonely otherwise, it’s really the least I can do.”

“What a gentleman,” Sicheng joked and Jaehyun felt almost like they were on a date, nearly tripping over his own two feet at the sudden thought. “Woah careful there, don’t fall and break your head open before you pay for my food.”

“I see how it is, you’re only with me for the money,” Jaehyun said with a resigned tone and Sicheng placed his hand on Jaehyun’s shoulder while trying to conceal a smile.

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way, honey. I should have told you sooner.”

The pair burst into fits of laughter as they entered the food court. They looked around at the food options, still residually giggling every few seconds.

“What are you in the mood to eat?” Jaehyun finally asked when they reached the center of the space, tables surrounding them and various restaurants running along the sides.

“Uhh, I know you work there, but can I get Subway? I’m craving a sandwich,” Sicheng said nervously and Jaehyun smiled and nodded.

“I hate the job, not the food, no worries.”

After they ordered and paid, they sat down at a little two seater table, facing each other as they ate in silence for a couple minutes. When they were almost halfway through their meals, Sicheng spoke up.

“So why did you drive Donghyuck today?” Sicheng asked and Jaehyun scoffed.

“I see how it is.”

“No no, I didn’t mean it like that,” Sicheng said with a laugh. “It’s just normally your mom drops him off and then leaves to go run errands. Is she okay?”

“Oh, yeah she’s fine. She’s out of town with her partner for the weekend,” Jaehyun answered and Sicheng hummed in acknowledgement. “She’ll be back in a couple days so you’ll be back to the normal routine soon.”

Sicheng scrunched his eyebrows together before smoothing out his features. “Shame, I was having so much fun hanging out with you instead of studying.”

Jaehyun’s heart sped up but he calmed himself down quickly. “Anything is better than studying.”

“Says the dropout,” Sicheng said with a smirk and the words didn’t bite into Jaehyun’s ego like they normally would. Instead, this time, he felt a spark of something he couldn’t completely place but made his chest feel too tight.

“Why do you think I dropped out?”

They laughed together before Jaehyun looked at Sicheng and was talking before he could think the words through. “Have we met before? You feel so familiar but I can’t place why.”

Sicheng went wide eyes before a light flush painted itself over his cheekbones and the tips of his ears.

“Oh, uh I mean, we were in the same year during high school but I don’t know if you would remember me with how popular you were with, well… everyone.”

Jaehyun thought for a moment before a hazy, forgotten memory dug itself back up to the forefront of his mind. “We talked on graduation night.” He said, a little unsure but the spark in Sicheng’s eyes gave him the confidence to continue. “Yeah, we talked about what we wanted to do after we graduated. But it was really dark outside so it was kind of hard to see anything.”

“Oh wow, I didn’t think you would still remember that,” Sicheng said, shock clear in his voice.

“I haven’t thought about it in a while but it would be really hard to forget compl-”

Sicheng’s gaze suddenly hardened and Jaehyun froze. He turned around to see where the slightly younger man was looking and caught the tailend of a group of teenagers running back to a certain game store.

“Were they spying on us?”

“Yep,” Sicheng replied with tight lips and Jaehyun almost feared for his own life.

🍸

“This seems like a good stopping point,” Renjun said and the others complained.

“But we still haven’t fought the two hobgoblins!! They were back in that cave!!”

“Hyuck, please let our characters survive, Renjun is already working way too hard trying not to let us die after your stunts every session.” Jaemin said with an eye roll.

“Fuck off, you’re worse!”

“You’re both terrible at making decisions that won’t get us killed,” Jeno said with a laugh and the two turned to glare at him.

“Do not compare me to him!” Donghyuck and Jaemin said at the same time and the pair glared at each other.

“Why are you complaining about being compared to _ me _?” Donghyuck asked with offense and Jaemin grimaced.

“As if I would wanna be compared to someone I dislike?”

Jisung gave a confused look.

“Wait, Jaemin, I thought you said you had a c-”

“Jisung if you finish that sentence I will end your short, short life,” Jaemin threatened and Chenle bursted out laughing.

“It’s okay, Jisungie, don’t listen to him. He’s just bitter he’s always a liar.”

Jisung laughed and the group seemed to cool down a little after that, though Donghyuck’s mind was racing trying to figure out what Jisung had been about to say.

“Well, this is usually when Sicheng would come drag me away to go back home but he’s not back yet so I guess we can keep playing if we want to?” Renjun asked, seeming a little worried but they all perked up at the mention of the other’s brother.

“Do you think Jaehyun finally got Sicheng to unclench?” Chenle asked conspiratorially and Renjun smacked him upside the head.

“He’s my brother, only I get to say shit like that.”

“We’re cousins! I have rights too!” Chenle screeched as he rubbed the back of his head with an angry pout.

“I mean,” Donghyuck started, pausing for everyone’s attention. “Sicheng did tell me he may or may not have gone to high school with my brother.”

“Okay, and?” Jeno pressed.

“He also maybe perhaps told me about a certain crush he had.”

Renjun slammed his hand on the table.

“Lee Donghyuck, if you were plotting something behind my back, I swear to god-”

“Plotting something like having my mom take her partner out for the weekend so my brother would be forced to drive me and subsequently hang out with Sicheng? I would never,” Donghyuck finished with an innocent smile.

Jaemin stared at the barely older boy with a look of absolute adoration before coming to his senses and sending glares to anyone he made eye contact with, silently threatening them to keep their mouths shut.

“Instead of playing more, do we wanna go try and find them and see what they’re doing?” Chenle suggested and everyone else agreed easily.

It didn’t take them long before they found the two in the food court, sitting across from each other and laughing over something one of them had said.

“What do you think they’re saying?” Jaemin asked.

“I don’t know, dipshit, I can’t hear from all the wat over here.” Donghyuck responded.

“Can you _ please _ call me something other than dipshit?”

“What do you want him to call you? _ Sweetheart _?” Jeno teased and Jaemin flushed a bright red before he shoved Jeno away.

“What the fuck, Jen,” He hissed and Jeno snickered before Renjun was quickly turning around and trying to get them all to move back the way they’d come with some resistance.

“Go, _ go _, Sicheng saw us, we’re dead,” Renjun rushed out and it took no more than three seconds for the group of six to run out of the food court.

🍸

Jaehyun and Sicheng walked back to the game store to find the high schoolers sitting seemingly innocently at their usual spot, game all put away and their things neatly gathered on the table top. 

“How was your game, boys?” Jaehyun asked when he walked over and Donghyuck looked close to shitting himself, but it wasn’t because of his own older brother. No, Sicheng had explained that the only time the group ever feared the consequences of their actions was when they assumed they pissed Sicheng off.

The story accompanying the information went something like this: there was one night when D&D was held at Renjun and Sicheng’s house because they were doing a five hour session to get through to the end of the plot arc. They used one of Sicheng’s school textbooks for the map so it was easier to see which enemies were on higher ground. About halfway through the session, Jisung spilled his glass of juice over half of the table and, consequently, all over the textbook.

When Sicheng later found out about the accident, he very quietly told them they would be pitching in to pay for the damage. They were also banned from holding sessions there for the foreseeable future and they all silently accepted the punishment. Sicheng was fairly reserved as a person but when he was upset he radiated anger and that was more terrifying than anything the others had faced in their teenaged lives. 

“It was fine!” Chenle said with his voice cracking slightly from his nerves and Renjun pinched the younger’s thigh, making the recipient yelp in pain.

“Are you ready to go home? I’m ready to go home,” Donghyuck said as he stood up.

“Can you drop Jisung and I off at my house?” Chenle asked and Jaehyun and Sicheng sighed in resignation.

“Yeah, no problem,” Sicheng said before moving to grab his backpack.

“Does anyone need a ride from me?” Jaehyun offered, noticing Jeno and Jaemin were making tense eye contact from their spots across the table from each other.

“Yeah, that would be great!” Jeno answered before Jaemin could even open his mouth and he looked close to smashing his face into the table.

“Thanks, Jae,” Donghyuck said flatly and the older of the two brothers smiled wide.

They all stood up and moved to leave the store. Jaehyun looked over at Sicheng who was already staring at him with an unreadable expression.

“So, you won’t be back next weekend?” He asked, sounding somewhat disappointed by his own words.

“Yeah, our mom will be back by then so she’ll be back on Hyuck-duty,” he joked and Sicheng cracked a small smile.

“Well, it was nice hanging out with you today, I had a lot of fun,” Sicheng said and Jaehyun smiled.

“Yeah, me too,” Jaehyun said, “it was really nice getting to see you again after so long.” They all walked out of the mall and waved as they started walking in different directions to get to their cars.

“See you next time, Jaehyun!” Sicheng called and a soft smile painted itself over Jaehyun’s features.

“Shotgun!” Jeno called as he found Jaehyun’s car and Donghyuck gaped.

“He’s my brother, I have priority.”

“Actually, I live by a strict ‘whoever called it gets it’ policy. Sorry buddy.”

“The level of betrayal,” Donghyuck said with clear disappointment. The four of them got into the vehicle, Donghyuck having to sit next to Jaemin with Jeno smiling sweetly with thinly veiled intentions in the passenger seat.

The drive to Jeno’s house was relatively uneventful, mostly just listening to the radio until they turned onto his street.

“Hey Jaemin, what was that thing you were telling me about before we started today?”

“Jen,” Jaemin said warningly. “I will shred your physics notes.”

“It was something about Donghyuck, I can’t seem to remember what it was though,” Jeno continued without pause.

“About me?” Donghyuck asked, interest suddenly piqued and Jaemin looked about ready to burst.

“Nope, I would never talk about you ever.”

“Oh I remember! You were telling me about how cute you thought his new haircut looked.” Jeno finished his sentence right as Jaehyun put his car in park and he pulled the handle to get out. “Thank you for the ride! Love you guys!” He called as he shut the door and Jaehyun sat for a second in the aftermath.

“Did you wanna move up front, Hyuckie?” He asked cautiously and Donghyuck didn’t seem like he was processing anything at that point, staying completely silent. “Take that as a no. How far do you live, Jaemin?”

“U-uh not very, if you turn right up there and then take the fourth left,” Jaemin explained quietly and Jaehyun nodded while following the directions. Within a few minutes they were parked outside of Jaemin’s house and he was getting out of the car.

“Well, be safe getting inside,” Jaehyun said simply. Jaemin only nodded in response before looking directly at Donghyuck.

“You do look really cute with that haircut and that is the only time you will ever hear me say that out loud.” And with that, he closed the door and ran inside within a matter of seconds.

Jaehyun was almost afraid to look at his younger brother.

“You good, bro?” He finally asked after pulling away from the curb a full minute later.

“I need time. To process.”

“That makes sense, feel free to voice any thoughts you do have.”

They were nearly to their mom’s house before Donghyuck finally spoke up, voice small and out of character as he spoke.

“He called me cute.”

  


“Hey, you look exhausted,” Johnny, Jaehyun’s roommate and best friend since middle school, asked when he got inside. Jaehyun slipped his shoes off and set them by the door before plopping beside the taller man on the couch with a groan.

“Teenagers are so much, bro. I hope we weren’t that bad when we were in high school,” Jaehyun sighed.

“Oh we were definitely worse,” Johnny said with a bright smile and a laugh. He leaned forward before grabbing the bong off the coffee table. “Want a hit to ease your worries? I loaded this right before you got home.”

Jaehyun made a noise of appreciation before taking the offering of greens and halving the bowl with practiced ease. He felt his whole body relax as he exhaled, holding the smoked for just a few seconds as he turned to face Johnny.

“Thanks, bro, I really needed that after today.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

Jaehyun sighed heavily. “So we got to the mall and then Hyuckie told me to hang out with Renjun’s older brother which, do you remember a Dong Sicheng from high school? He was in my year.”

“Oh, yeah he was pretty quiet - always hung around Yuta and Ten,” Johnny said after thinking back. “Didn’t you have a brief crush on him at the end of your senior year?”

Jaehyun spluttered. “W-what are you talking about?! I have never felt a human emotion in my life.”

“Yeah, I very distinctly remember you calling me one night after a volleyball match and saying you felt like you were dying but it turned out you just had some mild crush anxiety,” Johnny recalled with a laugh. “If I remember right, you avoided him for a solid two months until your crush went away.”

“Why am I friends with you if all you’re going to do is bring up my past mistakes. Also, I literally had to ask him if we’d met before, don’t you think I would remember someone I had a crush on?” Jaehyun shot back.

“I mean, there was Taeyong, and Doyoung, and-”

“Okay, okay, please stop, I get it, I’m bad with remembering anyone from high school, please just. Let me breathe.”

“Whatever you say, chief,” Johnny said with a salute before taking another hit.

“Do you remember that guy Hyuckie hated last school year?”

“Donghyuck has hated a lot of people since entering high school, you will need to be a little more specific.”

“The one he said hid his phone from him and only said he would give it back if Hyuckie bought him lunch.”

“I do remember this and I still think Jaemin was just trying to get Donghyuck on a date but he is - no offense - kind of an idiot.”

“None taken, it runs in the family.”

“You’re both adopted but go off,” Johnny laughed and Jaehyun weakly slapped the other’s thigh in retaliation, not actually taking offense to the words.

“Either way, I drove Jaemin and Jeno - you definitely remember Jeno,” Jaehyun said and Johnny nodded.

“I do, he’s a good kid.”

“I drove those two home before dropping Hyuckie off at mom’s house and Jeno decided to tease Jaemin for calling Hyuckie cute earlier today and then Jaemin actually told him he thought his haircut was cute before he left and I think he might have broken him.Hyuck just completely stopped responding.”

“How did he ever have a boyfriend?” Johnny questions and Jaehyun shrugs.

“Your brother was a special breed to have been able to handle Hyuckie for a whole year, that kid is so much.”

“Why did they even break up? They were so good together but Mark wouldn’t talk to me about it afterwards.”

“Hyuck told me it was a mutual decision between them since he’s in Canada for college right now.”

“Didn’t think they could manage the distance?”

“Nah, Hyuck’s a very physical person with how he shows his love and I think long distance would have killed him a little bit.”

Johnny nodded in understanding. “That’s fair, it’s not for everyone.”

The two sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before a flash of multi-colored fur flew past them in through living room and into Johnny’s open bedroom door.

“Did you give Kimchi catnip again?” Jaehyun asked judgingly.

“She likes it!” Johnny defended just as the cat in question came out of the bedroom and halted in her tracks, legs all straightened out and eyes wide, staring at her two dads.

“Do you have the zoomies, Kimchi?” Jaehyun asked in a baby voice and the cat took off running into the kitchen before launching herself onto the counters so she could loop back around and go running into Jaehyun’s room. “She’s so… fucking weird.”

“I know, I love our daughter so much.”

“Me too,” Jaehyun replied and the two sighed almost wistfully as they thought about the cat they had received from one of Johnny’s old coworkers. Kimchi was about thirteen when they adopted her, her front paws having long since been declawed which broke both of their hearts. She was a sweet tabby that shedded maybe a little too much but was the friendliest cat either of them had ever met. She would lean her head into kisses, went absolutely crazy for any sort of pats (but especially butt pats), and had a slightly broken meow that sounded slightly like what they imagined a former smoker would sound like if they were a cat.

She had adjusted easily to their small apartment and became the center of attention whenever they had guests over, everyone instantly falling victim to her charms and ridiculously loud purr that would be there whether you touched her or not.

“Oh back to the Sicheng thing, before I forget again,” he started, “did you get his number?” 

Jaehyun widened his eyes before burying his face in his hands.

“I’m a fucking _ idiot _,” he wailed.

“_ ‘It runs in the family’ _,” Johnny countered and Jaehyun nearly shoved him off the couch.

“What do I even do? When will I ever see him again?”

“You could just drive Donghyuck to D&D next week and hang out with him again then.”

Jaehyun thought on it for a moment before nodding his head.

“Okay, yeah, that should work, I don’t think I’m scheduled that day, I’ll just text my mom to make something up so she’s busy that day.” He pulled out his phone and pulled up a new text message.

[엄마]

[Jaehyun]  
hey mom!

any chance you can make some plans for next weekend?

[엄마]  
?? Why exactly?

[Jaehyun]  
i met renjun’s brother today and i forgot to get his number

[엄마]  
You and Hyuckie are way too similar, are you sure you weren’t biological brothers I happened to adopt at different times?

[Jaehyun]  
pretty sure i would remember this, yes

also what do u mean we’re similar, what’d he so

do*

[엄마]  
Like you remembered to get a cute boy’s number?

And you’re both brats

[Jaehyun]  
Cruel, he is a Much bigger brat than i am

but fair

please go out of town with jiwoo so i can drive hycukie to dnd

hyuckie*

[엄마]  
Yeah yeah, she’s been wanting to go hiking since summer ended so I guess we can make a day of it

[Jaehyun]  
i love youuuuuuu

thanks mom

[엄마]  
;) Just actually remember to get his number this time, you know D&D days are my shopping days

[Jaehyun]  
i know i know

itll be the last time

probably…

“Okay, she said she’s gonna go hiking with Jiwoo so I can have an excuse to drive Hyuckie.”

“Make sure you actually get his number this time, bro, don’t let your awkwardness get in the way!”

“Shut up, why do you and my mom always have to roast me in the same ways?” Jaehyun asked as he threw a couch pillow at Johnny’s head, which the other barely dodges.

“Because we’re intellectuals that know you’re an idiot that won’t express his feelings ever.”

“Hit me where it hurts, John.”

The two laughed and continued to talk back and forth for a while before Jaehyun looked at the clock and realized it was well past eleven at night.

“Oh shit dude, I have work at six tomorrow, I gotta go to sleep if I don’t wanna be dead on my feet talking to old people.”

“You know, I really wish that actually told me which job you were working tomorrow,” Johnny said and Jaehyun nodded with an understanding expression.

“I actually did mean Subway so that’s pretty fair.”

“Go to bed, loser.”

Jaehyun reciprocated the sentiment before walking to his room, herding Kimchi out from under his bed and then shutting the door. He changed into his pajamas, sighing in relief when he finally took his work pants off and replaced them with his most comfortable pair of sweats before finally laying down and letting himself drift off to sleep.

That night, Jaehyun dreamt of soft laughs and eyes that held galaxies in them.

🍸

Donghyuck sat with his hands folded in his lap in the passenger seat, oddly silent considering he normally didn’t have an off switch.

“Hey, is everything alright?” Jaehyun asked about halfway through the drive to the mall.

“Yeah.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Okay.” Jaehyun let the conversation settle for a few seconds before Donghyuck was speaking up again.

“Okay, so Jaemin has been… suspiciously nice to me since last week,” he started. “Like we usually just fight but he hasn’t been taking the bait as often and I don’t get it. Like I’ll tease him in the groupchat and he doesn’t even make fun of me back. I don’t get it.”

“Maybe he has a crush on you and is trying to steer your relationship out of the constant battle mode?” Jaehyun suggested but Donghyuck shook his head.

“Don’t play with me like that,” he said with a dejected tone and Jaehyun smiled softly.

“Hey, he really seemed like he had a crush on you t-”

“I don’t have a crush!”

Jaehyun gave him a quick _ look _.

“I do not get crushes,” Donghyuck said matter of factly and Jaehyun laughed.

“Hate to break it to you, but you had a boyfriend for a full year.”

Donghyuck crossed his arms. “Shut up.”

The rest of the drive was spent with them picking on each other and cracking jokes. Once they were parked and walking inside the mall, Jaehyun felt a sense of anxiety in his stomach. Was this a desperate move? Sicheng did say he wanted to hang out again, although Jaehyun had distracted him from studying so maybe he would want to be doing that instead.

His thoughts were cut off when they entered the store and Jeno shouted from the usual spot.

“Hyuck! You brought Jaehyun again!” 

Jaehyun looked around only to meet Sicheng’s wide eyes, the slightly younger man sitting at the same table from last week. It only took a few seconds for Sicheng to process and he smiled brightly.

“Hey, you’re back! Did your mom end up having to do something this weekend too?” He asked as Jaehyun walked over, Donghyuck having already left his side to go meet up with his friends.

“Yeah, she took her partner, Jiwoo, to go hiking because apparently she’s been asking my mom to for a while now and since I had the day off I offered,” Jaehyun said smoothly and Sicheng’s smile turned soft, almost tired looking.

“Well I for one am glad you’re back, I want to be doing anything but studying right now.”

“Oh? Sounds like you would’ve taken anyone up on the offer to hang out.”

“You’re right, feel lucky you got here before a random passerby swept me off my feet,” Sicheng teased.

Jaehyun tisked while shaking his head. “Well we can’t have that now, who else would I spend two hours hanging out with at a mall I haven’t really been to since high school?”

“My deepest apologies,” Sicheng said as he placed a hand on his chest. “I’m honored to be your time-filler.”

They both laughed before Jaehyun motioned to the entrance of the store.

“Feel like wandering? We can go to stores we didn’t get to last weekend and not buy anything,” Jaehyun suggested and Sicheng nodded with a warm smile.

“Lead the way.”

  


They eventually ended up in a music store tucked away by the upstairs entrance to a Macy’s. They walked in quietly, noticing there was only one other customer in the store, looking are the keyboards, and a cashier that sat silently behind the register. 

“Do you play anything?” Jaehyun decided to ask Sicheng as the other was admiring the acoustic guitars hung up on a wall.

“I played violin in middle school but I’ve forgotten basically everything by this point,” Sicheng answered with an apologetic smile. “Do you?”

“I took guitar in high school and it kind of stuck,” he said as he walked a couple feet and grabbed a deep crimson acoustic guitar off the wall hanger. He sat down on one of the few stools placed conveniently around for exactly this reason.

“Any requests I might know?”

Sicheng thought for a second before shaking his head. “Surprise me,” he answered and Jaehyun thought for a second. He quickly used the built in tuner on the instrument and strummed a few times to get a feel for how she (yes, she) played. He cleared his throat a few times and readjusted how he was sitting exactly three times before he made awkward eye contact with the other and began playing.

_ What do you see when you’re lit up next to me _

_ But you feel so far? _

_ And it’s all so strange that you never saw the change _

_ You just felt something go missing in the dark _

Jaehyun glance up from the fret board to see Sicheng staring at him with wide eyes and quickly looked back down.

_ I wanna write you a letter _

_ I wanna write you a song _

_ I wanna make it better _

_ For when the nights get long _

He played through the rest of the first chorus before switching to the bridge to shorten the length of time he had to do this for.

_ So I told myself, if I’m given the chance, I won’t hold back anymore _

_ I’m not gonna keep it all in, not gonna keep it all in _

_ And I close my eyes and try to hide, but all of a sudden _

_ It’s you and me in the middle of it all _

Jaehyun belatedly realized how sweet the song was, simply choosing the last song he had decided to learn. He finished playing with a final strum and Sicheng clapped for a few seconds before starting to gush.

“What the hell, you’re so incredible, why weren’t you in choir during high school?” He asked and Jaehyun laughed shyly at the compliments.

“I was a little bit of a troublemaker in the fine arts building so I don’t think the teacher would have let me even if I had wanted to.”

Sicheng shook his head solemnly. “Absolutely tragic, the world should not be deprived of this blessing.”

“Oh my god, stop, I’ll get embarrassed.”

“You’re already blushing, anyways.” Sicheng waved off the others comments. “Just accept that you’re an incredible singer.”

They stared at each other intensely for a few seconds before Jaehyun sighed.

“Alright, fine, but I will only accept it from you,” he said, unknowingly setting Sicheng’s stomach alight with butterflies. “Wanna go grab some food?”

“Only if I get to pay this time,” Sicheng said stubbornly and Jaehyun rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” he responded.

As they walked from the music store to the food court, he snuck a look over at Sicheng who seemed a little caught up in his own world. Jaehyun noticed how the other looked around at the stores they passed and Jaehyun admired his soft smile. Sicheng silently mouthed the names of a couple stores in between his small comments of, “Oh man, I haven’t been in a Hot Topic since like Junior year,” and, “The disney store is up there! We gotta go after we eat.”

Jaehyun was suddenly reminded of Johnny’s words from the previous weekend (and nearly every day since then).

_ Didn’t you have a crush on him at the end of your senior year? _

Honestly, fuck Johnny for having the memory of a damn elephant. Jaehyun didn’t even know how he did it with how often they smoked. He had already proven his memory was absolute garbage by not even remembering an ex-crush from high school.

Jaehyun remembered all the times in high school when he would catch Sicheng muttering to himself, completely oblivious to the world around him, and it was just as endearing now as it was then. When they stepped into the food court, Sicheng came back to reality and asked Jaehyun where he wanted to get food from.

They ended up deciding that since they weren’t so hungry to the point of needing a full meal, they would get smoothies and sit by the indoor fountain for a little while to kill some time.

“So do you still dance?” Jaehyun asked once they had settled onto the tiled border keeping the water contained that doubled as a seating area. Sicheng looked at him in surprise.

“How did you remember that?”

“Hey I might have bad initial memory but once I actually think about it I can usually recall more things,” Jaehyun defended and Sicheng laughed.

“Yeah, Ten is actually the captain of the team im on at our college,” he answered. Jaehyun smiled wide at the information.

“Oh I didn’t know you were on his team, that’s so cool!”

Sicheng blushed slightly. “Thank you, it’s nice having him there because otherwise I only know maybe two people.”

“You should come hang out at mine and Johnny’s place next time Ten’s over!” Jaehyun blurted out and when Sicheng raised his eyebrows in interact, he started rambling. “We usually just watch movies and smoke- wait, the smoking isn’t mandatory. I just mean Johnny and I usually smoke and sometimes Ten does too and if you came to hang out you would be allowed to smoke as well but you wouldn’t have to if that’s… not your thing.” His words petered out awkwardly. He averted his eyes to the polished tile floor while he sipped on his smoothie to get his mouth to stop making sounds.

To his side, Sicheng started laughing, harder than Jaehyun had seen in the now two times they’d hung out and his smile was so bright Jaehyun felt his jaw go slack. He admired how beautiful the other man was and when Sicheng finally looked up, they made eye contact and Jaehyun could physically feel his ears turning bright red.

“I would love to come hang out with you guys.”

Jaehyun let out a breath of relief before recalling the whole reason he convinced his mom to go out today.

“Uh, can I have your number, then? Y’know, so it’s easier to plan you coming over and stuff.”

Sicheng giggled at Jaehyun’s habit of nervous rambling before holding his hand out. Jaehyun stood slightly to get his phone from the depths of his front pocket before unlocking it and handing it over.

After a few seconds, Sicheng gave the small device back with a smile and Jaehyun internally congratulated himself over the saved number before shooting a quick text with his name.

“Okay cool, now we don’t have to be surrounded by loud teens when we hang out,” Jaehyun said with a smile.

“Yeah, we can just be surrounded by loud, baked college kids,” he joked in response. Jaehyun opened his mouth to argue the point but closed it almost immediately after remembering the last time Ten had come over and smoked with them.

“Alright, fair enough,” he conceded. “At least you’ll get to hang out with me, though.” Jaehyun nudged Sicheng with his elbow and the other let out a soft laugh.

“I thought we were hanging out right now, though.”

“You,” Jaehyun started before a soft laugh interrupted his words. “Alright, you got me there.”

“I am excited to hang out with you more though, I promise. I really wanted to befriend you in high school but never really found the chance.” 

“Oh, well I guess we have lost time to make up for.”

Sicheng smiled happily and Jaehyun was sure his heart stopped for a few seconds at the sight.

🍸

When Jaehyun got home that night, Ten was already over hanging out, sitting on the floor and waving a feather toy around for Kimchi who was waving her arms around and whipping her head back and forth to keep an eye on the target. Johnny was standing in front of the stove, presumably making some kind of food for dinner, as he yelled a welcome to Jaehyun that he returned in kind.

“Hey, Ten!” Jaehyun called with a smile and Ten barely looked up as they waved and called back.

“Welcome back, I heard you went to the mall today.”

Jaehyun side eyed his roommate who didn’t turn around.

“Oh did you now? And what did Johnny tell you, exactly?” He asked skeptically as he removed his socks and shoes by the door.

“Just that you were driving Hyuck to D&D,” Ten said with a smirk. “And that you were only going to get Sicheng’s number since you forgot the first time.”

“Johnny,” Jaehyun called and the taller man turned around in his spot with a wide smile. 

“Yes, dear?”

Jaehyun rolled his eyes. “Stop telling people about my shame.”

“I thought it was cute,” Ten said quickly.

“That’s somehow worse,” Jaehyun said with a constipated look. He finished getting relaxed, including changing into a pair of loose sweats and an oversized t-shirt. As he walked back out into the living room, Ten had stood up, picking pieces of cat fur of their black shirt and Jaehyun laughed.

“She sheds like crazy,” he said once he got close enough for Kimchi to push her head into his hand. “I’m not even allergic to cats and she makes me sneezy if she gets too close to my face.”

“It’s worth the risk, she’s an angel,” Ten responded and they both nodded silently in agreement as they sat in the middle of the apartment, giving Kimchi all the attention she could possibly want if her loud, motor-purr was anything to go off of.

“Were you hungry? I made enough for all of us,” Johnny called and Jaehyun didn’t ask what the other had made before replying with an affirmative. His best friend had never led him astray with food and he didn’t think it would start now.

After a few minutes, Johnny called them over to come grab their plates and Jaehyun saw he’d cooked up some chicken alfredo pasta.

_ Ten must have gotten a random craving _, Jaehyun thought to himself. When they had all settled down at the small round table they had in the barely existent dining area, Johnny finally started up the teasing train.

“So did you get his number this time?” He said after a minute and Jaehyun glared daggers at the other from across the table as he finished chewing the bite of pasta he had just stuffed into his mouth. 

“Yes and I also invited him to come hang out some time,” Jaehyun said and stuck his tongue out childishly.

“Did you set a date for that?” Johnny asked with surprise and Jaehyun deflated.

“Nah, not yet, I figured I would ask when you two wanted to hang out as well.”

“Wait, you invited him to hang out with us too?”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to like instantly invite him over to hang out with me alone, that would’ve sent the wrong impression,” Jaehyun said, defending himself and his actions.

“You mean you _ don’t _ want to bone Sicheng?” Ten spoke up suddenly and Jaehyun gaped at them.

“Not you too, Ten, I can barely handle Johnny making fun of me.”

Ten cracked a sly smile before conceding. 

“How about next weekend though? Maybe he can come over after D&D is over and we can watch something,” they suggested and Jaehyun was thankful Johnny had started dating Ten before someone else could steal their kind heart. For all the teasing they did, Ten always checked to make sure they hadn’t crossed a line and would back off when asked.

“I’ll text him about it later but I think that sounds like a good plan,” Jaehyun said before remembering how he had rambled on about the fact he smokes weed and groaned, banging his head against the hard wood surface.

“What did you do?” Johnny asked knowingly, already preparing for the secondhand embarrassment he was about to feel.

“I may have mentioned that we smoke.”

“Okay… And?” Ten prompted when Jaehyun was silent for longer than expected.

“You let yourself keep talking didn’t you,” Johnny stated, not even a slight questioning tone in his voice. Jaehyun nodded in shame, keeping head against the table. “Someday you’ll learn when the point has been made, apparently it hasn’t happened yet.”

Jaehyun let out another noise of dissatisfaction before finishing his food with a pout.

“It’s alright, next weekend he’ll see you’re not entirely as big of a loser as you can seem like,” Johnny reassured him and Jaehyun just gave a solemn thumbs up in return.

🍸

[sicheng! ^-^]

[Jaehyun]  
hey, i hope u got home safe!

[sicheng! ^-^]  
I did! Hopefully you did too

Or is this you telling me you’re in the ER and need urgent, life saving surgery?

[Jaehyun]  
u caught me, im actually texting this from beyond the grave

a bus ran me over right as i got out of my car

it was tragic

[sicheng! ^-^]  
I’m sorry for your loss, I’ll send flowers to your funeral

[Jaehyun]  
not even gonna attend, thats harsh bro u_u

[sicheng! ^-^]  
What can I say, I’m an ugly crier

Your ghost doesn’t need to witness that

[Jaehyun]  
lol yea right as if u could be ugly

but in all seriousness im glad u got back safe

[sicheng! ^-^]  
Me too, it’d be hard to hang out again if one of us died

[Jaehyun]  
im sure we couldve made it work anyways

speaking of hanging out tho

i talked to johnny and ten earlier and they suggested next weekend after D&D is over to hang out

if that wokrks for u

works*

[sicheng! ^-^]  
That sounds like a good plan to me! I can get my homework done during their session since I won’t have a distraction this time around uwu

[Jaehyun]  
¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

sounds like a person problem

[sicheng! ^-^]  
Not even gonna take credit, smh

[Jaehyun]  
not like u ever declined hanging out instead of studying

[sicheng! ^-^]  
Alright, fair enough

Speaking of I actually need to study for a test I have tomorrow :/

[Jaehyun]  
and yet u let me distract u again, tsk

[sicheng! ^-^]  
A cute boy texted me about hanging out, what was I gonna do?

Say no?

[Jaehyun]  
i take it back thank u for letting me distract u, good luck studying

[sicheng! ^-^]  
;)

I’ll text you later!

[Jaehyun]  
sounds good!

dont work urself too hard

[sicheng! ^-^]  
No promises lol

🍸

When Sicheng arrived at the apartment the following Saturday, Jaehyun was instantly aware of two things. One; Sicheng looked incredible. Like, somehow even more than usual, and that was saying something coming from Jaehyun. And two; Jaehyun had maybe one of the worst cases of bedhead after a quick accidental nap on the couch just before Sicheng arrived and while he hadn’t thought it would be a huge deal he instantly felt himself get shy.

“Hey, come on inside, you can take your shoes off right there,” Jaehyun finally said, pointing down to the shoe rack after a few awkward seconds of staring at Sicheng.

“Is everyone here?” Sicheng asked as he did as requested, placing his shoes down gently while Jaehyun nodded out of his sight.

“Johnny is deciding on the movie selection and Ten is around here somewhere. I think they’re trying to hunt down Kimchi.”

“Kimchi…” Sicheng repeated back slowly, raising an eyebrow and Jaehyun smiled.

“Kimchi! She’s mine and Johnny’s cat.”

Sicheng’s eyes lit up. “You have a cat,” he said seriously, a determined expression settling over his features.

“We do, she’s a grandma cat but she acts like a kitten still,” Jaehyun explained as they walked further into the apartment and Sicheng took a look around.

“This is a really cute place,” he said after a few moments and Johnny could be heard from his bedroom, calling out a ‘_ thank you! _’ in response.

“Thanks,” Jaehyun repeated with an eye roll.

Within a few moments, Ten was running out of the room with their arms spread wide. “Sichengie!” They called as soon as they nearly tackle hugged the taller man.

Sicheng reciprocated the affection easily, smiling when Ten pulled back and ruffled the front of Sicheng’s hair.

“I heard you talking about Kimchi, do you wanna meet her?” They asked in a serious tone and Jaehyun was almost baffled by how serious the two were about cats.

“This is the only thing I have wanted since I stepped foot inside this apartment.”

“Hey!” Jaehyun said in mock-offense but his smile gave him away as he looked at Sicheng’s own wide grin. Ten and Sicheng ran off into Johnny’s bedroom and Jaehyun decided if he was going to survive this he would need to load a bowl.

He was sitting on the couch, twisting open the grinder and pinching some of the finely ground flower to place in the empty bowl when three people emerged from the room at once. Johnny came out first, nodding in agreement when he saw the materials in front of Jaehyun and holding up the movies. Their options were apparently between _ Spirited Away _ and _ Princess Mononoke _.

Next to exit was Ten who followed closely behind Johnny, a skip in their step as they plopped down next to Jaehyun. “Tell Johnny we should watch _ Spirited Away _ , _ Princess Mononoke _ makes me sob and I don’t want to cry that much tonight,” they said with a whine and Jaehyun laughed in response to his friend’s antics.

“You two are dating, you think he’ll listen to me anymore than you?”

They laughed together in response, Jaehyun continuing to load the bowl before looking back up only to come face to face with Sicheng holding Kimchi gently in his arms. Jaehyun almost let out a coo of affection at the scene but held it in momentarily.

“Oh my god,” he ended up saying when the man in question looked up with bright eyes.

“She immediately started purring once he got in the room,” Ten said and Jaehyun could melt.

“I picked her up and she started purring louder than she was so now I don't want to put her back down.”

“Kimchi and her motor-purr,” Johnny said with an affectionate tone and they all smiled at the moment.

“Anyone want greens?” Jaehyun offered and Ten put their hands face up in the direction of the bong and lighter. Jaehyun handed it over easily and stood up, motioning for Sicheng to take a seat.

“Where are you gonna sit?” The other asked as Johnny took his place next to Ten on the three seater couch, who handed the glass piece over to their boyfriend with a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I’m just gonna sit on the floor, I have pillows,” Jaehyun said reassuringly and Sicheng narrowed his eyes.

“Fine then I’m sitting with you.”

“We can make a little bed on the floor with all the blankets and pillows?” Ten suggested. “That way no one feels left out of being on the couch.”

Sicheng nodded in agreement as Johnny handed Jaehyun the bong. He took his hit smoothly, each person cornering the bowl to leave greens for the rest. When he placed the bowl piece back in the downstem to hand it over to Sicheng, he saw the other was blushing slightly before placing Kimchi back on the ground and taking the offering, though Jaehyun wasn’t entirely sure what the other was blushing over.

Sicheng sat down on the couch before flicking the lighter on, inhaling for a few seconds before removing the bowl piece to clear out the smoke. After handing it back to Ten, Sicheng looked up and made eye contact with Jaehyun before exhaling slowly and Jaehyun felt suddenly weak in the knees.

“Well I’m gonna go start grabbing pillows and blankets!” He said, too loudly but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Not when he could still vividly see Sicheng exhaling the smoke and getting that much more attractive. Jaehyun wasn’t sure what it was but he found that most people somehow got hotter when they smoked and Sicheng was apparently no exception to this rule.

It took a few moments but Jaehyun finally emerged from his room, carrying several pillows and two heavy comforters, plopping them onto the ground and moving the coffee table silently.

“Oh, let me go grab mine too,” Johnny said before jogging into his room and coming back out after no more than twenty seconds. He held his own comforter with a pillow under each arm and two stacked on top of the heavy blanket.

A few minutes later and the four of them were settled down on the now slightly padded ground, having decided on watching _ Spirited Away _ in the end, mostly due to Ten’s loud complaining.

Johnny and Jaehyun sat in the center, Sicheng and Ten on either side of them and two bowls of popcorn to share between the pairs. Jaehyun didn’t know if he was allowed to admit it, but the whole thing felt a lot like a double date to him.

The movie went by relatively quickly, all of them cracking up at things that probably were not as funny as they actually were but none of them cared and Kimchi switching laps every twenty minutes or so. When the end credits began to roll, Jaehyun could feel Sicheng shake slightly against his side and as he glanced over, he could see tears clinging to the other’s lashes.

Jaehyun, not wanting to draw attention to the crying man decided to just wrap an arm around his shoulder and Sicheng quickly buried his head into Jaehyun’s chest.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” Johnny said and Ten stood up with their boyfriend.

“Jaehyunie, can I use your bathroom? I have to pee too,” they asked and the man in question nodded, careful not to disturb Sicheng and thankful the other two let him be.

“Hey you doing okay?” Jaehyun asked once the two were out of the room and Sicheng nodded into him, not lifting his head.

“That movie hurt my heart,” Sicheng whined and Jaehyun let out a soft chuckle before lifting Sicheng’s face gently with his free hand to check and make sure he was going to be fine, only realizing how close this would put their faces after they were already centimeters apart.

They stared at each other in silence, Jaehyun’s words dying in his throat. Neither of them made a move to either get closer or put distance between them. Jaehyun could feel Sicheng’s sporadic breaths from his crying (which had ended the second he made eye contact with Jaehyun) on his lips and the sensation made him look down quickly at the other’s mouth. Without realizing it, they had both started leaning in, slowing inching closer and closer and when Jaehyun was about to close the rest of the space, Johnny came out of his room holding his phone in his hand and letting out a loud “_ whoop _” sound, making the two jump apart, hearts beating faster than they ever had before.

“Hey, Jackson just texted me about a party he’s throwing on Friday, do you guys wanna go?” He asked, looking up from his phone and taking in the scene in front of him. “Y’all good?”

“Yeah!” Jaehyun answered quickly before clearing his throat. “Also let Jackson know I’m down for a party.”

Jaehyun looked over at Sicheng only to find the other quickly darting his eyes away.

“Uh, I haven’t been to a party in a hot second but I would also be down,” he said after a moment of hesitation and sent a nervous smile over to Jaehyun who reciprocated easily.

Ten walked out of Jaehyun’s room with a hop in their step. “Did you get the text about Jackson’s party?” They asked and Johnny nodded with a bright smile.

“Yeah! Looks like we’ll all be going.”

Jaehyun hadn’t been this nervous for a party since his Junior year of high school. Hopefully it wouldn’t turn out to be as bad as his gut told him it would be.

“It’s getting late, I should get back to my mom’s before it gets too dark out.”

“I can walk you to your car, if you want,” Jaehyun said but Sicheng waved him off.

“It’s okay! I parked right outside so I’ll be fine, thank you, though.” Sicheng pulled on his shoes before turning back to the group with a small wave. “Uh, I’ll see you next weekend, and I’ll see you Tuesday, Ten.”

The three waved back and when the door finally shut, Jaehyun let out a sigh.

“Next weekend is going to be stressful, isn’t it?” He asked rhetorically, receiving an affirmation from Johnny, to which he swiftly elbowed the other in the gut for.

🍸

Jaehyun felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. He and Sicheng had texted most of the following week but neither had acknowledged the fact that they almost kissed during the movie night. He wasn’t sure what he wanted from the other; whether it be a relationship or if he was just acting on a past crush that suddenly came back up. He wasn’t sure and that scared him.

Sicheng hadn’t acted any different during the week, teasing and flirting as normal and it was making Jaehyun’s head spin. He hated not knowing what he wanted, but he hated not knowing what Sicheng wanted from him even more.

After walking inside, he came face to face with the already pretty active party, seeing a few people he went to high school with who waved with tipsy smiles and he instantly felt his nerves loosen up. He even managed to spot the girl he sat next to on his one and only day of his Writing 101 class and ended up befriending as a smoking buddy.

“Hey Jaehyun!” Wonshik called once he made it to the kitchen. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, how have you been?”

“I’ve been doing pretty good, how have you been, Wonshik? Do you graduate soon?” Jaehyun asked, walking over to the counter and pouring himself a drink while he continued to talk with his old friend. 

“Yeah! In a couple months,” Wonshik said and Jaehyun whistled lowly.

“Could never be me, I’m so proud of you bro, that’s some hard shit and you did it,” Jaehyun said with a lift of his cup and they each took a swig of their drinks.

“What about you, man? What’s going on in your life?”

“Currently working at Walgreens and Subway but I’m trying to find just one full-time job that pays well enough to cover the bills.”

“Oh man, how’s that going for you?” Wonshik asked with a grimace.

“Well, a homeless man punched the ATM machine last week and broke it and I haven’t gotten a callback from any of the places I’ve been able to interview at. People really don’t like the whole college dropout thing,” he vented disdainfully and Wonshik rolled his eyes.

“People are pricks, going to college doesn’t mean you’re necessarily more qualified, it just means you had the time and money to be able to spend however many years slaving away. If that’s not what you wanna do with your life they shouldn’t make you feel like shit for that.”

“I forgot how passionate you get about this,” Jaehyun said with a smile. “Thanks bro, it’s hard but I’ll get through it, not every job can require a college degree, y’know?”

“Hell yeah, that’s the attitude to have.”

At some point, Johnny and Ten managed to make their way into the kitchen and grab drinks.

“Hey Jaehyun, I saw Sicheng,” Ten said in a form of greeting and Jaehyun hated the way his heart sped up at the name.

“Woah, Sicheng from high school? I haven’t seen that guy in years,” Wonshik said with a wistful sigh.

“He and Jaehyun are currently in a game of chicken, but whoever caves is the one that asks the other out,” Johnny said in a completely too loud and Jaehyun rolled his eyes.

“If you hadn’t come out so soon to announce the invite to this party we might’ve kissed last weekend so whose fault is that?”

Ten gaped. “You two almost _ kissed _ and this is the first I’m hearing about it?!” They screeched and Jaehyun held up his hands.

“You didn’t… ask?” He tried but they leveled a glare at him that made him start sweating. “Okay fine I was embarrassed.”

“Well stop doing that and just go for it, he clearly likes you back, Sicheng doesn’t even come to parties like this.”

Jaehyun caught onto that point and didn’t let go. Sicheng had made it sound like he just hadn’t had the time to come to a party in recent months.

“Speak of the devil, hey Sicheng!” Ten called, waving their hand at the man who just stepped into the room. “Jaehyun was just talking about you.”

Jaehyun was going to kill Ten.

“Oh was he now?” Sicheng asked and Jaehyun turned to face the other with a smile.

“Just about how much you cried at the end of _ Spirited Away _,” Jaehyun teased and Sicheng whined in response.

“You promised you wouldn’t! I have the text!”

Jaehyun laughed as he moved out of the way for Sicheng to make his own drink.

“I see what you mean,” Wonshik loudly whispered back to Johnny and Jaehyun tensed up. Once Sicheng had finished making his drink, Jaehyun threw a quick arm around his shoulder and lead him out of the kitchen.

“Let’s go say hi to some people from high school, I know I saw Hyejin and Wheein when I got here,” Jaehyun said and Sicheng smiled.

“Oh! Hyejin is on the dance team!” Sicheng said excitedly and Jaehyun was so smitten. He was _ so _smitten.

The two walked around for a while, hanging out with the aforementioned old classmates and Jaehyun found out the two had started dating not long after high school ended, to which Jaehyun congratulated them on. He also learned that they were close friends with the girl he had befriended when he had actually been a college student, a tall, blonde woman named Byulyi.

“So when did you two become friends?” Hyejin asked, words slurring enough that they could tell she had been drinking.

“A few weeks ago?” Jaehyun asked, looking over to Sicheng who nodded.

“Yeah, like two weeks,” he confirmed and the girls cooed at them.

“Sichengie, I’m so happy for you, I remember graduation night when-”

“Okay, we’re gonna go somewhere else. Have fun dancing!” Sicheng interrupted Wheein’s words as he pulled Jaehyun out of the overcrowded room and into a mostly deserted halfway. The two were a little past tipsy but not quite to the point of being drunk so they just giggled when they made eye contact.

“Sounds like you’ve got a secret from high school I don’t know about,” Jaehyun teased and Sicheng blushed quicker than usual, face already flushed from the alcohol.

“It’s a dumb secret,” Sicheng countered and Jaehyun raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t think anything that has to do with you can be dumb.”

Sicheng stared up at Jaehyun, nervously biting his lip as he contemplated telling Jaehyun about his old crush now.

Before Sicheng could open his mouth to respond, someone walked up to them from the direction of the dining room.

“Hey, Jaehyun! Long time no see!” He called and when Jaehyun turned around he lit up.

“Hey Younghyun! How have you been?” Jaehyun replied and they gave each other a quick hug.

“I’ve been good, dude, Jae and I are looking for someone to play beer pong with, are you two down?”

Jaehyun turned to Sicheng who nodded, glad to have the attention off what Wheein almost outed him for. The small group walked through the house and came up to a table that was already setup.

“Jaehyun! My drop out companion, the platonic love of my life!” Jae called once they were close enough and Jaehyun couldn’t stop laughing at how clearly drunk the other was. They hugged each other tight before Jae placed an uncomfortably wet kiss on Jaehyun’s cheek.

“Your boyfriend is right there,” Jaehyun said in a fake whisper and they all started laughing.

“Is this your boyfriend?” Jae countered, gesturing to Sicheng and Jaehyun turned bright red.

“U-uh, no, this is Sicheng, we went to high school together,” he answered awkwardly. He didn’t want to say they were strictly friends, especially not after that last time they hung out, so he let the comment hang there.

“Ooohh, Sicheng, got it,” Jae said with a knowing smirk and Jaehyun felt like dying. He forgot how many people were around during his great Sicheng crush panic.

The four started playing not long after and it became very apparent that Jae was an amazing shot when drunk, despite how clumsy he was. Before either of them knew it, Jaehyun and Sicheng had each cleared two drinks and were starting on their third before the second game came to an end.

“Brian, I have to go to the bathroom,” Jae said, turning to Younghyun who rolled his eyes.

“I told you to stop calling me that, but let’s go. It was great seeing you again, Jaehyun! Nice meeting you Sicheng!” Jae called over his shoulder and the pair waved goodbye.

“Did you wanna dance?” Jaehyun asked, words significantly harder to string together at this point and Sicheng smiled brightly.

“Hell yes, I love dancing,” he said with a giggle, making Jaehyun smiled before holding out a hand andleading Sicheng through the crowd to one of the less populated sections.

“So are you enjoying the party?” Jaehyun asked and Sicheng wrapped his arms around Jaehyun’s neck and hummed in thought.

“Yeah, I’ve spent my whole night with you,” he said with a smirk.

“Oh is that so?” Jaehyun teased and Sicheng slid one of his hands up into the hair at the base of Jaehyun’s neck and Jaehyun suppressed a shiver at the contact. He stared at the other while they continued to sway back and forth, not making an effort to do much more than that as they both stared at each other’s mouths.

Before he knew it, Jaehyun could feel Sicheng’s breath against his lips just like the week before but with a much different background. Jaehyun looked up into Sicheng’s eyes for a moment and they held nothing but trust and determination.

Sicheng’s lips were softer than Jaehyun ever imagined. That was the first thing he was able to register when they closed the last bit of distance. Sicheng’s grip in his hair tightened at the sudden sensation and Jaehyun whined lightly at the pleasant pressure at his scalp.

Jaehyun slid his hands from where they sat on Sicheng’s hips to his lower back, pressing them flush against each other. He breathed the other in, unable to think of anything else he would rather be doing than kissing the beautiful boy in front of him at that moment. When Sicheng swiped his tongue along Jaehyun’s bottom lip, nibbling slightly at the skin, Jaehyun couldn’t help the groan he let out.

“Sicheng,” he sighed and the sound only spurred Sicheng on. He backed up until he felt his back hit the wall they had only been a few feet from, Jaehyun easily caging him in as they continued kissing for what felt like forever.

They pulled away slightly to catch their breaths and the moment they made eye contact, Sicheng seemed to break out of his haze and widened eyes.

“Oh, shit shit, wait, this isn’t, _ shit _,” he cursed and Jaehyun lifted his hands to calm the other down but Sicheng just waved his hands in front of himself, making Jaehyun step away to give him space. “Sorry, I’m okay, I just have to go home, I realized I forgot something.”

“Oh, is everything okay?” Jaehyun asked with worry, his alcohol fueled brain unable to fully grasp what was going on.

“Yep, just have a really important… thing, yeah, super important and I totally spaced on it,” Sicheng continued to ramble, words slurring a little and Jaehyun frowned.

“At least let me walk you home?”

“It’s okay, I can do it myself, I don’t want to trouble you at all.” Sicheng shuffled away, making his way towards the front of the house and Jaehyun shook his head.

“It wouldn’t be any trouble.”

“It’s fine, I live close by I’ll be okay.”

Jaehyun raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“Okay but text me when you get home safe, okay?”

“Yep will do, totally! See ya later, Jaehyun.” And with that, Sicheng speed walked out of the large house.

With one final moment to allow the dust to settle, Jaehyun ran a tired hand down his face, turning around and seeing there was a bonfire going on in the backyard and the group sitting around it was smoking so he walked over to go see who all was there.

It turned out that Jackson was sitting in one of the chairs and, when Jaehyun walked up, he nearly launched himself into the fire out of excitement.

“Jaehyun, my dude, I’m so glad you could make it, seriously, I’ve missed seeing you so often,” he said as they grabbed hands and pulled each other in for a quick bro hug, two quick pats on the back sufficing for both of them. “Want a hit?”

Jaehyun took the offering with a grateful smile, trying to allow himself to forget about the whole kiss situation for just a moment. Jaehyun was so nervous he had fucked up somehow by letting himself be weak and give into his urge.

After another hour of hanging out and talking with Jackson, Jaehyun finally ended up heading home with Johnny and Ten when the latter came out onto the lawn and finding Jaehyun crossfaded and a little sad. The three of them walked back to their apartment just in time for Jaehyun to flop onto his bed and pass out from sheer exhaustion.

The last coherent thought he had that night before sleep finally took him was of soft lips and the look Sicheng gave him just before they closed that distance.

🍸

“How’s your master plan going, Hyuckie?” Donghyuck’s mom asked as they drove to the mall. It had been two weeks since Jaehyun last drove him to D&D and Donghyuck was hoping it meant that he and Sicheng were hanging out on their own time now.

“I think it’s going good,” Donghyuck said with a thoughtful look. “Hopefully they’re just hanging out now instead of making excuses to see each other.”

“Like you do with Jaemin?”

“Mom!” Donghyuck yelped, “This ain’t about me!”

“Well then why don’t you tell me about this master plan for your brother? I still feel very left in the dark,” she requested and Donghyuck found this topic of conversation much easier to deal with.

“Okay so, I knew Jaehyun liked Sicheng in high school and last month when we had D&D at Renjun’s house, Sicheng came home and he was definitely a little tipsy and he accidentally told me that he had a huge crush on Jaehyun in high school but never acted on it because he didn’t think Jaehyun liked him that way.”

“So you decided to meddle in your brother’s life,” she replied with a grin. “Truly my son.”

Donghyuck smiled wide at her as she pulled up to the curb just outside the entrance, letting him out.

“Just text me when you’re finished and I’ll be back to get you, I have some errands.”

“As usual, thanks for driving me, mom!” Donghyuck said as he got out of the car and shut the door, smiling at her through the window before going inside. He was a little early, noticing no one else was there when he arrived so he went to go save their usual table. The group of girls that also played on Saturday’s were starting to set up, only half of their little group currently present.

After a couple minutes, one of the girls Donghyuck had come to know as Soyeon noticed him and waved.

“Hey Donghyuck! You’re here alone?” She asked, walking closer to the table.

“Yeah, my mom dropped me off a little early and apparently that was too early for everyone else.”

“Mind if we sit with you for a little?” She asked, her girlfriend coming up and jumping with her hands on Soyeon’s shoulders.

“Hey Donghyuckie!” Yuqi called and Donghyuck smiled and motioned them over with a nod. They sat down next to each other, Soyeon in the seat adjacent to his.

“How have things been? Anything new going on with  _ you-know-who _ ?” Soyeon asked, lowering her voice into a whisper that anyone nearby could have heard and Yuqi leaned in with an excited grin.

“Not… really? He’s still kind of weird whenever we’re around each other but I think he might crack soon.”

Yuqi gave a sympathetic smile and Soyeon reached over to grab his hand in consolation.

“You’ll get there, I’m sure something will snap him out of his ass soon,” she said with a mischievous smile. Donghyuck opened his mouth to respond before a bag was being placed on the table a little harshly on the other side of him and he snapped his eyes up to see Jaemin glaring daggers at Soyeon.

Donghyuck looked up at the other’s face to see he was staring specifically at where her hand rested on Donghyuck’s. She gave his hand one final squeeze before standing up.

“Talk to you later, Hyuckie!~” She gave a little wave and Yuqi hopped over to give him a quick hug from over the back of his chair.

“Text me later! You need to finish telling me that story,” she said with a smile and Donghyuck nodded, returning the grin. Once the two girls had evacuated back to their own table, Donghyuck turned to look back at Jaemin who was staring at where Soyeon was sitting now.

“What’s up with you?” Donghyuck asked and Jaemin snapped his head over to meet Donghyuck’s eyes nervously. “Jealous much?” He continued with a smirk beginning to form.

“N-no! As if I’d be jealous of you,” Jaemin said accusingly and Donghyuck rolled his eyes.

“Then were you jealous of Soyeon? Her holding my hand?” He teased, not expecting Jaemin’s cheeks to turn a bright red almost immediately.

“That’s-!” He stopped his sentence before a determined look settled over his features, staring back at Donghyuck determinedly. “So what?”

Donghyuck gaped. He hadn’t expected in a million years that Jaemin would actually admit to anything relating to Donghyuck, let alone wanting to hold his hand.

“W-well, then why haven’t you? There’s all this free real estate just lying around,” Donghyuck countered, gesturing around with his hands. Both of them were too proud to back down so Jaemin did the only logical thing and reached out to grab Donghyuck’s hand, their fingers lacing easily, almost somewhat tentative. Almost as if they were afraid of breaking the moment. Donghyuck felt his face heat up from his cheeks to his ears at the thought.

“This is… awkward,” Jaemin stated and Donghyuck rolled his eyes, remembering something Jeno had said a few weeks prior.

“It’s only awkward if you make it awkward,  _ sweetheart _ ,” he said and Jaemin almost squeaked, cutting the noise just short of leaving his throat.

“I’m gonna kill Jen.”

“Don’t, he’s the only way I know if my flirting works on you,” Donghyuck admitted bitterly.

“Wha- you’ve been  _ flirting _ with me??” Jaemin asked with shock in his voice. Donghyuck raised an eyebrow.

“Uh, obviously? What else did you think I was doing?”

“I thought you hated me? Like any reasonable person?”

“You- okay I will admit before summer you would have been pretty on key with that assumption,” Donghyuck admitted and Jaemin rolled his eyes. “But, I don’t know, you just changed over summer.”

“You… you were talking about  _ me _ ,” Jaemin groaned and nearly slammed his face into the table, their hands still joined rather embarrassingly for both of them.

“What?”

“When Jaehyun drove you that first time, you were talking about someone getting hot,” Jaemin recalled and Donghyuck felt like disappearing into the ether. “You meant  _ I _ got hot over summer. Do you only like me for my looks?”

“Please stop saying things, I feel like I’m going to die,” Donghyuck whined. “And clearly I don’t just like you for your looks.”

“But you admit that you like me?” Jaemin smirked and Donghyuck groaned.

“Yeah fine, I have a crush on you, what else do you want from me?”

“Hmm,” Jaemin said, looking up in thought while he brought his free hand to tap on his bottom lip with his index finger while he thought. “We should hang out sometime. You know, not with the guys.”

“Na Jaemin, are you asking me on a date?”

“What if I was?” Jaemin challenged and Donghyuck smirked.

“Well I guess I’d just have to say maybe.”

“Just maybe?” Jaemin asked in offense.

“Yeah, just maybe, Hyuck?” Renjun’s voice came from behind them and both boys jumped out of their seats, Donghyuck actually falling to the ground and pulling his hand from Jaemin’s. “Glad you two got your shit together finally.”

Donghyuck’s heart was racing a mile a minute as he laid down, covering his face with both of his hands. “How long were you standing there for?”

“Long enough,” Renjun answered and both Donghyuck and Jaemin started complaining.

“You two really are perfect for each other.”

Donghyuck looked away from his friends and saw Sicheng was already sitting at his usual table but he hadn’t taken a single book out of his bag, just laying his head down against the hard surface and not moving.

“Hey, is he okay?” Donghyuck asked with concern and Renjun made a face.

“I don’t know. He got home pretty late last night and he seemed kind of drunk but not in the happy way.”

Donghyuck let the conversation end there but kept an eye on Sicheng for most of the session, worrying about whether or not his brother was somehow involved in the other man’s mood change. Sicheng didn’t touch his bag until they were more than halfway through the session and when they ran over on time, he didn’t even come to scold them.

The session ended after nearly three and a half hours, and when they went to tell Sicheng that they were done he looked like he was half functioning and had only written down two sentences in his notebook.

[bro dude]

{Donghyuck]  
bro u better fix shit with sicheng he looks miserable

[bro dude]  
why do you assume i did smth??

and what do u mean he looks miserable :((

[Donghyuck]  
i mean he barely did any work and dnd went for nearly 4 hours today

[bro dude]  
oh my god…

[Donghyuck]  
yeah, fix it, i dont like him being like this, its depressing

[bro dude]  
i can try but i think i fucked up last night so honestly idk if he wants to talk to me

[Donghyuck]  
idc u better try

[bro dude]  
yeah yeah, i gotta go but i’ll text u later

[Donghyuck]  
u cant run away from ur problems!

sicheng deserves communication!  
_ read 6:58pm _

🍸

Jaehyun felt stupid showing up at the mall without Donghyuck in tow, almost out of place even though he’d been there dozens of times. As far as Jaehyun knew, the session should have been about halfway done by that point. He cut the engine to his car and had to give himself a few seconds, trying to gain enough courage to walk in and talk to Sicheng.

He had wanted to text the other, but Jaehyun felt they deserved to acknowledge the party face to face rather than over text. So, in turn, it took a whole week for Jaehyun to build up the nerve to go back to the mall where he knew Sicheng would be, no other pretense surrounding his reason for being there.

As soon as he walked inside the game store, he could tell Sicheng wasn’t feeling great. He had dark circles lining his under eyes and his skin looked a little paler than usual. Had Jaehyun caused this?

Before he was able to spiral too much, Sicheng looked up and his eyes widened when he met Jaehyun’s gaze.

“H-hey,” he said when Jaehyun got close enough to the table and the latter smiled gently.

“Uhm, do you think we could talk?” Jaehyun asked, looking around the store to see the boys game had paused, all of them staring at Jaehyun unabashedly. “Maybe somewhere that isn’t here?”

Sicheng nodded nervously before getting up and following the other out of the store.

“What did you want to talk about?” Sicheng asked, his voice a level of forced nonchalance that Jaehyun wanted to cringe physically.

“Sicheng,” he said with a sigh and the other looked down, staying quiet for a few seconds and only speaking up after they had passed by two storefronts.

“I’m sorry.” He was apologizing. Sicheng was apologizing and Jaehyun blinked a few times in shock.

“For what?” Jaehyun asked, not sure what else to say because  _ what had Sicheng even done wrong? _

“For… The party…” Sicheng said cautiously, almost unsure of himself now.

“Why exactly are you sorry?” Jaehyun asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer but when Sicheng furrowed his eyebrows together he had a feeling he knew where this conversation was going to go. “Do you think I only kissed you because I was drunk?”

Sicheng opened his mouth a couple of times before closing it with a snap.

“Maybe a little?” He said, voice small and unsure.

“Sicheng,” Jaehyun started, stopping where they were and pulling Sicheng off to the side so they weren’t in the way of people trying to pass by them. “I like you, like in a romantic way not just as friends.”

Sicheng stared with a shocked expression, looking like he was trying to process all of this information as quickly as he could but he was getting caught somewhere along the way.

“As in I think you’re really cute and I want to be able to spend as much time around you as I can and I would kiss you no matter what is going on.”

“I had a really big crush on you in high school,” Sicheng blurted out, the first thing he was able to coherently think after Jaehyun’s sudden confession and this time it was the latter’s turn to be surprised.

“You did? Why didn’t you ever tell me back then?” He asked and Sicheng fixed him with an unimpressed look.

“You know better than anyone how popular you were back then, there was no way I thought I would have been able to compete.”

“Well, spoiler alert, I also crushed on you in high school, so you had a much better chance than anyone else in that entire place.”

Sicheng stared at Jaehyun with bewilderment clear in his eyes before he dropped his gaze to Jaehyun’s lips briefly and that was all the hint the other needed to lean in and place a gentle kiss against Sicheng’s lips and they both relaxed into it, melding together easily and feeling as though they were meant to be there.

“Hey,” Jaehyun mumbled and Sicheng hummed but didn’t move away so Jaehyun just continued to talk against his lips. “Will you be my boyfriend?”

Sicheng finally leaned back with happiness shining in his eyes brighter than anything Jaehyun had ever seen and Sicheng broke out into the biggest grin and nodded.

“I’d like that a lot, yeah,” he answered as he leaned back in for another quick peck.

🍸

Weeks turned into months, their friends supporting their relationship unconditionally the moment they came out with it. Johnny had continue to tease him for months after, never letting him live down the fact his first kiss with his newfound boyfriend had been drunk at some random party they had been invited to. Ten had gone much easier on Jaehyun, simply stating they would make him disappear silently in the night if he ever hurt Sicheng and Jaehyun agreed that that’s what would be fair.

As for his family, Jaehyun’s mom was immediately smitten with Sicheng the first time she met him over dinner, Jaehyun fairly certain she liked Sicheng more than she did her own son from that moment on. Donghyuck had fessed up to planning on getting the two together when Sicheng had mistakenly confessed his crush and Sicheng gave the teenager the tightest hug possible.

“Thanks for meddling, just this once, Hyuckie,” Jaehyun said with a ruffle to the other’s hair while Sicheng held his other hand. Jaehyun thought about all the time he could have had this had he not been a coward in high school, but then again, fate probably knew they needed to grow individually to be able to be in the happy and healthy relationship they were able to create together now.

Either way, Jaehyun was thankful he was now able to call Sicheng his boyfriend and get to learn every tiny thing about the other man, being able to love every habit and mannerism he had. After nearly a year of dating, the four of them - being Jaehyun, Sicheng, Johnny, and Ten - decided to rent a house together and even after two years, they couldn’t be happier with how their lives had turned out.

Sicheng graduated with his degree in dance and was able to find a job as an instructor at a local dance academy. Jaehyun finally found a full-time job working in a daycare that paid well enough to cover his necessities and that was more than enough for him. The two were happier than ever, ready to spend the rest of their lives together.

And if they were to occasionally make jokes about their first kiss being drunken and probably not as good as they both remembered it being, they couldn’t have planned their story any better themselves. It was perfect for them and that was all they cared about.

**Author's Note:**

> u can find me on twt @enbyuqi! please come be my friend i love making friends so much


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